In the past, porous hair curlers have been developed that use steam to aid in curling--see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,554 (Caruso), hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. One such hair curler 42 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The hair curler 42 includes a core 48 having an integral rim 46 formed on one end. The core 48 is hollow and forms a steam passage 50 that extends longitudinally therethrough. An inlet for the steam passage 50 is disposed in the integral rim 46. The core 48 has a reduced diameter portion 62 which telescopically receives a hub 64 formed on a second rim 46, the outer diameter of hub 64 being approximately equal to the outer diameter of core 48.
The second rim 46 does not have a hole in communication with the steam passage 50 so that the passage is sealed at one end. However, the core 48 has two longitudinally extending slots 22 equidistantly circumferentially spaced around the core 48--that is, the slots are spaced approximately 180.degree. from each other. The slots 22 terminate at the reduced diameter portion 62 and allow steam within the passage 50 to flow radially out of the core 48 and through a tubular porous sleeve 44.
The sleeve 44 surrounds the core 48 and is preferably formed from a foam polymeric plastic material so as to be highly porous and compressible. The sleeve 44 acts to distribute steam escaping from the slots 60 to the hair wound therearound. The curler 42 is assembled by telescoping the sleeve 44 over the core 48 and then snapping the hub 64 onto the reduced diameter portion 62 with a friction fit.
A shield 58 is provided to retain heat by partially enclosing the sleeve after the hair has been wound therearound. The shield 58 is generally semi-circular and has end walls. A notch is provided in each end wall having a transverse dimension that corresponds generally to the diameter of the core 48 and hub 64. In addition, the end walls have a slight interference fit with the inner surfaces of the rims 46.
The hair curler 42 is preferably provided in sets of different diameters--a set of small diameter curlers for use with short hair, a set of intermediate diameter curlers for use with hair of intermediate length, and a set of large diameter curlers for use with long hair.
The hair curler 10 is used as follows. The core 48, while enclosed by the sleeve 44, is placed on a table top steamer, such as that shown in FIG. 3 and discussed further below. After a few seconds, the curler is removed and applied to the hair, while the shield 58 is placed over the steam discharge port 38 in the cover 3 of the steamer 1. After hair has been wound around the sleeve 44, the shield 58 is placed around the sleeve to contain the steam. A pin or clip may also be utilized to anchor the hair to the rims 46.
After exposing the hair to the steam escaping radially outwardly through slots 60 and sleeve 44 for a few minutes, the clip and shield 58 are removed. Thereafter, the curler is separated from the hair. As the hair curler is pulled away from the head, the curler spins and unwinds itself from the hair.
FIG. 3 shows a table top steamer 1, according to the prior art, such as heretofore used in conjunction with the curler 42. The steamer 1 comprises an outer vessel 24 that forms a cavity 9 for containing the water, into which a quantity of salt may be added, to be transformed into steam. An outer housing 8, having an inner cylinder 26 concentrically disposed therein, is mounted into the vessel 24. An inner housing 7, having a shroud 13 extending downward therefrom, is disposed within the outer housing 8 and sealed thereto by a gasket 5.
As shown in FIG. 3, an inner cap 4, having electrodes 6 mounted therein for heating the water and thereby transforming it into steam, is disposed within the inner housing 7 and sealed thereto with a second gasket 5. Power cables 56 are connected to the electrodes 6. A steam discharge port 10, in flow communication with the cavity 9, is formed in the inner cap 4. The inner cap steam discharge port 10 serves to direct steam to the passage 50 within the hair curler core 48 when the curler is mounted on the steamer as discussed below. In addition, steam vents 11, adapted to vent excess steam to atmosphere, are formed on either side of the steam port 10. A cover 3 is mounted atop the inner cap 4. A steam port 38 is formed in the cap 3 which is concentric with, and therefore in flow communication with, the inner cap steam port 10. Lastly, a plastic handle/curler support 2 is attached to the cover 3 via screws 40.
As shown in FIG. 4, the handle/curler support 2 has a finger grip portion 14, disposed between two holes 15 for the attaching screws 40, to facilitate lifting of the steamer 1. A planar portion 16 extends forwardly from the finger grip portion 14. The planar portion 16 serves to support a hair curler 42 on the steamer while steam is being introduced therein and also serves as a baffle to deflect excess steam discharging from the vents 11 away from the user. A cowl 12 extends downwardly from the planar portion 16 and, in use, partially encircles the steam ports 10 and 38 so that, in cooperation with the face of the cover 3, forms a sealed conduit for directing the steam discharged from the steamer 1 to the curler steam passage 50.
As shown in FIG. 4, a hole 17 is formed in the planar portion 16. The hole 17, via the aforementioned conduit formed by the cowl 12, is in flow communication with the inner cap and cover steam ports 10 and 38, respectively. The hole 17 serves as a steam port for the introduction of steam into the curler steam passage 50. A post 18 is disposed in the curler steam port 17 and, by extending into the passage 50, serves to stabilize the curler 10 while it is supported on the planar portion 16. As shown in FIG. 4, the post 18 is a flat plate-like projection. Unfortunately, as a result of its plate-like configuration, the post 22 is fairly weak and prone to breakage, due to bending forces imposed on it during shipping and in use, unless its width and thickness are sufficiently great. This limitation on the minimum size of the post 22 prevents the use of very small diameter curlers, since such curlers would have very small diameter steam passages 50 and excessive width and thickness of the post would impede steam flow through the passage. Thus, the applicability of the steam curling approach has been undesirably limited.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a steamer having a hair curler support which allowed the use of very small diameter hair curlers.